1970-01-01 02:00:00
In the most anticipated fight of this year, Terence Crawford dominated Errol Spence Jr. in a battle between the two best current welterweights in boxing. And it wasn’t even close, as Crawford dropped Spence three times en route to a ninth-round TKO victory at a sellout T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Crawford (40-0, 23 KOs) became the first undisputed men’s welterweight champion in the four-belt era. He is the only male fighter in boxing to be an undisputed (four belts) in two different divisions. Crawford won every title at super lightweight in 2017 before moving up to welterweight. Claressa Shields is a two-division undisputed champion in women’s boxing, capturing all four belts at junior middleweight and middleweight.
Crawford’s victory was so dominant that Spence (28-1, 22 KOs), the former pound-for-pound No. 4, fell out of the top 10.
But Crawford wasn’t the only standout fighter to shine last week. Naoya Inoue, No. 2 on the list, produced an impressive and commanding performance against Stephen Fulton to win two super bantamweight world titles. Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs), is a former undisputed bantamweight champion who moved up in weight looking for bigger challenges. His performance on Tuesday, July 25 in Japan was good enough to claim the No. 1 spot, but then Crawford had the unforgettable performance from him.
“After recounting Naoya Inoue’s TKO victory against Stephen Fulton, I, as well as many in the boxing media, publicly stated that it would take a truly definitive result from Crawford, and that he needed a phenomenal performance from all sides. times to jump ‘The Monster’ to No. 1 on my list,” ESPN boxing commentator Joe Tessitore told ESPN. “Well, Terence Crawford did exactly that. His demolition of Errol Spence Jr. was more impressive to mark his place than Mike Tyson’s 90-second firing of Michael Spinks in 1988.”
“Crawford delivered the greatest display of skill and savagery from start to finish at the highest level that I can remember over the course of the last few generations. Inoue and Crawford are clearly the two best fighters in the world, by a wide margin. They’re passing the vision test, they’re setting all-time records, and they’re doing it against world-class competition while wiping out entire divisions. Inoue is an all-time great, but “Bud” Crawford is different in ways that are easy to describe and hard to deny. He is my new No. 1 with a slight advantage over Inoue, such an exceptional fighter that I am embarrassed to even put a No. 2 next to his name.”
Mike Coppinger, Ben Baby, Timothy Bradley Jr., Rothstein, Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Crystina Poncher, Michelle Joy Phelps, Eric Woodyard, Kel Dansby, Bernardo Osuna, Bernardo Pilatti, Claudia Trejos, Charles Moynihan, Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro and Aladdin Freeman share their votes.
Don’t forget to check out the ESPN Divisional Rankings, which are updated weekly.
To see the list of current champions for each division, click here.
Note: Results include through August 2.
1. TERENCE CRAWFORD Ranking anterior: No. 1
RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Welter (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Errol Spence Jr., July 29
NEXT FIGHT: TBD
2. NAOYA INOUE Ranking anterior: No. 2
RECORD: 25-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Super Bantamweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO8) Stephen Fulton, July 25
NEXT FIGHT: TBD
3. OLEKSANDR USYK Ranking anterior: No. 3
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Heavy (unified champion)
LAST SKIN: G (DD12) Anthony Joshua, August 20
NEXT SKIN: August 26th vs. Daniel Dubois
4. CANELO ALVAREZ Previous Ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 58-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) John Ryder, May 6
NEXT FIGHT: September 30 vs. Jermell Charlo
5. DMITRY BIVOL Ranking anterior: No. 6
RECORD: 21-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Gilberto Ramirez, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBD
6. TYSON FURY Ranking anterior: No. 7
RECORD: 33-0-1, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Heavy (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Derek Chisora, Dec. 3
NEXT FIGHT: October 28 vs. Francis Ngannou
7. ARTUR BETERBIEV Ranking anterior: No. 8
RECORD: 19-0, 19 KOs
DIVISION: Light Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO8) Anthony Yarde, Jan. 28
NEXT FIGHT: TBD
8. DEVIN HANEY Ranking anterior: No. 9
RECORD: 30-0, 15 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: G (DU12) Vasiliy Lomachenko, May 20th
NEXT FIGHT: October 28 vs. Regis Programs
9. SHAKUR STEVENSON Ranking anterior: No. 10
RECORD: 20-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Light
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) Shuichiro Yoshino, April 8
NEXT FIGHT: TBD
10. GERVONTA DAVIS Ranking anterior: N/R
RECORD: 29-0, 27 KOs
DIVISION: Light
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Ryan Garcia, April 22
NEXT FIGHT: TBD
The formula
Rankings are based on a descending point system, with a first-place vote receiving 10 points, a second-place vote receiving nine points, and so on. A draw goes to the boxer with the highest ranking, and then with the most votes in that ranking.
Others who received votes: Errol Spence Jr. (22), Teófimo López (18), Vasiliy Lomachenko (10), Jermell Charlo (7), Jaron Ennis (3).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Davis, 5. Fury, 6. Lomachenko, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Álvarez, 9. Haney, 10. Ennis
Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Haney, 8. Stevenson, 9. Lopez, 10. Charlo
Coppinger: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Álvarez, 6. Fury, 7. Haney, 8. Stevenson, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Davis
Tessitore: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Stevenson, 7. Alvarez, 8. Haney, 9. Lopez, 10. Fury
Parkinson: 11. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Álvarez, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Haney, 10. Stevenson
Raskin: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Alvarez, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Stevenson, 8. Davis, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Lopez
Baby: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Álvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Spence, 7. Haney, 8. Bivol, 9. Stevenson, 10. Fury
Rothstein: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Fury, 4. Bivol, 5. Álvarez, 6. Usyk, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Haney
Phelps: 1. Crawford, 2. Alvarez, 3. Inoue, 4. Spence, 5. Haney, 6. Usyk, 7. Fury, 8. Bivol, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Lopez
Rodriguez: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Fury, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Haney, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Charlo
Three: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Álvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Fury, 8. Haney, 9. Stevenson, 10. Spence
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Haney, 8. Stevenson, 9. Charlo, 10. Spence
Osuna: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Haney, 7. Lopez, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Charlo, 10. Stevenson
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Fury, 4. Alvarez, 5. Davis, 6. Haney, 7. Lopez, 8. Usyk, 9. Stevenson, 10. Spence
Dansby: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Fury, 6. Haney, 7. Lopez, 8. Spence, 9. Bivol, 10. Stevenson
Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Álvarez, 4. Fury, 5. Usyk, 6. Bivol, 7. Haney, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Davis, 10. Spence
Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Bivol, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Davis, 8. Haney, 9. Stevenson, 10. Spence
Zirolli: 11. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Álvarez, 4. Stevenson, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Bivol, 9. Haney, 10. Spence
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Stevenson, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Haney, 9. Álvarez, 10. Charlo
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Stevenson, 6. Álvarez, 7. Haney, 8. Davis, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Spence
Expert Totals
Primer lugar: Crawford (19), Inoue (1)
Runner-up: Inoue (18), Crawford (1), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Usyk (12), Fury (3), Alvarez (2), Bivol (2), Inoue (1)
Fourth place: Bivol (7), Alvarez (6), Beterbiev (3), Fury (1), Stevenson (1), Davis (1), Spence (1)
Fifth place: Alvarez (5), Fury (5), Bivol (3), Usyk (2), Stevenson (2), Beterbiev (1), Haney (1), Davis (1)
Sixth place: Usyk (5), Beterbiev (4), Haney (3), Alvarez (2), Bivol (2), Fury (1), Stevenson (1), Spence (1), Lomachenko (1)
Seventh place: Haney (6), Davis (5), Lopez (3), Fury (2), Beterbiev (2), Alvarez (1), Stevenson (1)
Eighth place: Haney (5), Stevenson (4), Bivol (3), Beterbiev (2), Davis (2), Usyk (1), Alvarez (1), Fury (1), Spence (1)
9th place: Beterbiev (6), Stevenson (4), Haney (3), Charlo (2), Lopez (2), Álvarez (1), Bivol (1), Davis (1)
10th place: Spence (7), Stevenson (3), Charlo (3), Fury (2), Lopez (2), Haney (1), Davis (1), Ennis (1)
#Poundforpound #rankings #Crawford #Inoue #whos #Spence